Sitting Duck
by by7the7sea
Summary: Sitting Ducks Alternate scene - What if Ultra found John before Cara could return?
1. Chapter 1 - Variances

Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People is the Property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

xxx TTP xxx

As Cara took Astrid and left, John took comfort in knowing he kept his word. He protected Astrid as best he could. It didn't matter what would happen to him. He knew Astrid was safe now. Cara would take care of her.

xxx TTP xxx

**Ultra HQ**

"There, someone just teleported out," Jed said as he pointed at the screen.

"Sir, our guys on the ground tell us she got away."

"I thought you said John was wounded in the initial exchange?"

"He wasn't the one who helped the target teleport out."

"Well, that means he's still in the building. Keep searching," Jedikiah paused. "Tell the Alpha squad their new orders are to bring him in alive. Got that?"

"Yes, sir."

xxx TTP xxx

**The Hotel**

"Yes, understood," the alpha squad leader said into his com link.

"Team, we have new orders. This is now a no kill op. We are to find John Young and bring him in alive. He is injured and still in the building."

The team lowered their weapons, but kept them at the ready just in case. They still weren't sure who or what they would run into during this search. Having cleared the other ninth-floor rooms, they moved to the supply room.

xxx TTP xxx

**The Lair**

Cara and Astrid tumbled down the few stairs to the floor as they made a hard landing. Cara helped Astrid up then turned to leave again. Russell grabbed her and turned her around.

"Where's John?" he asked.

"I'm going back for him," Cara stated.

"No, no, no, you can't! It's too late," Russell pleaded with her.

"I can get back in, I can get him," she insisted.

"Cara! They'll kill you," he implored.

"And what do you think they will do to him? He's hurt and can't defend himself. I need to go back for him," she reasoned.

"But if you go back and get yourself killed, it won't help anybody," responded Russell.

Cara paused.

xxx TTP xxx

**The Hotel**

The Alpha squad entered the supply room cautiously and found John passed out on the table.

"We have located John Young and he's unresponsive," the commander reported back to HQ. "Looks like he's lost a lot of blood. Please advise. Do we return him directly to HQ or take him to the hospital, over?"

He listened to the response. "Understood."

xxx TTP xxx

**Ultra HQ**

Once Jedikiah learned John had been found and his condition, he immediately stood up and walked over to Hillary.

"Hillary, take me to John's location now," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she grabbed his arm and they both vanished.

When they arrived at the scene, he dismissed the Alpha squad and rushed over to John to assess his condition. John was still bleeding a bit, even though someone had crudely tried to stitch him up.

In the excitement of finally catching one of Ultra's most wanted, Hillary gleefully sent ~ "Stephen, you will never guess what just happened." ~

~ "What? Is this important? I'm on vacation." ~ Stephen tried to dismiss her. He didn't think he wanted to hear what Hillary had to say.

~ "Well, if capturing John Young is nothing to you, enjoy your trip." ~ She sounded hurt.

~ "What?!" ~ Panic threatened to overwhelm him, but he tried to keep his mental voice calm when he sent ~ "When? How?" ~

~ "Nevermind, get back to your fun." ~ Hillary, upset at his curt reaction, cut the connection.

xxx TTP xxx

**The Lair **

Cara and Russell had resumed arguing about going back for John when Stephen contacted Cara.

~ "Cara, what happened? I just found out that Ultra has John." ~

"No!" Cara said. "Dammit, Russell, now it's too late. They've got him."

Astrid ran over to Russell and Cara. "No! You said you had a plan. You need to get him out of there," Astrid said. "John needs medical attention now."

"Not now, Astrid," Cara said.

~ "Is he still alive?" ~ Cara responded to Stephen.

~ "What?! What do you mean is he still alive? What happened?" ~

~ "He was shot ... protecting Astrid." ~ Cara added quickly. ~ "She's fine. I brought her back to the Lair, so don't do anything rash. It looks like Ultra had sent a kill squad for her, but John saved her." ~

Stephen let out the breath he was holding and responded. ~ "Tell Astrid I'll explain everything to her as soon as I get back. In the meantime, what do you need me to do?" ~


	2. Chapter 2 - From Bad to Worse

**Author's Notes:**

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Jedikiah called 9-1-1 to get John to the hospital as fast as possible. He wished Ultra's medical ward hadn't been quarantined. He would much rather keep this in-house. As it was, he had no choice. He would need to deploy a couple of agents to guard John while he was in the hospital. He was not going to run the risk of any of John's sewer rats trying to rescue him.

"Hillary," Jedikiah turned to her and ordered her to return to Ultra immediately, get Agents Simmons and Jones then meet him at the hospital. Hillary teleported out.

Luckily, with Ultra's political influence, he would be able to come up with a cover story for how John got shot.

While waiting for the ambulance to show up, Jedikiah cleaned up some of the blood.

_"Kid, it's a good thing I showed up when I did. You'll be lucky if this doesn't get infected." _As he went over to the nearby cart to grab another towel, John started to regain consciousness.

Even though he was weak from blood loss, he panicked when he saw Jedikiah and tried to get up. Misjudging the distance to the floor, he half-way fell from the table, catching himself. Unfortunately, in the process, he pulled the stitches which caused him to cry out and double over in pain clutching his waist.

"Woah, woah, woah, Kid," Jedikiah rushed over. "Not so fast, where do you think you are going?"

"Away ... from you," John said as he tried to push Jedikiah away.

"Not this time," Jedikiah said as he helped John back up onto the makeshift bed. "The ambulance is on the way."

John fought to stay awake, but succumbed to unconsciousness again.

**xxx TTP xxx**

~ "Cara, what do you need me to do?" ~ Stephen sent again thinking Cara had not heard him the first time.

~ "I'll let you know when we come up with something." ~ Cara finally responded.

Cara ran into TIM's room with Astrid following close behind. Russell came limping into the room a few moments later.

"TIM, monitor all traffic from John's location to Ultra." Cara directed. "I want to know the minute he is taken there."

"Monitoring now," TIM replied. "Cara, you should also know that a 9-1-1 call was placed from that hotel approximately four minutes ago. An ambulance is en route."

"An ambulance? That doesn't make sense," Cara said. "Maybe it is for a guest at the hotel?"

"Why wouldn't it be for John?" Astrid asked. "He needs to be in a hospital."

"Because the House of Horrors known as Ultra has their own medical staff," Russell informed her. "They've patched up Stephen a couple of times."

"Cara, I have located a recording of the 9-1-1 call. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes!" All three said at the same time.

In a moment, the voice of a 9-1-1 operator could be heard throughout the room. Following that was a voice Cara and Russell immediately recognized ... Jedikiah.

**xxx TTP xxx**

The Paramedics finally arrived and immediately got to work prepping John for transport to the hospital. As they worked, the shorter one asked Jedikiah "what happened here?"

"I don't know," Jedikiah replied somewhat truthfully. He didn't know what had happened since John was shot. "This is how I found him."

"It looks like these stitches are coming out," Jessie said to his fellow paramedic Hesam. He glanced at Jedikiah then resumed his questioning, "Did you do this?"

"No," Jedikiah responded. "Like I said, this is how I found him."

"And you are?" Jessie asked as he continued working.

"My name is Dr. Jedikiah Price," Jedikiah responded with his usual confidence. "The man you are working on is John Young."

"How do you know who this is, if you just _found_ him like this?" Jessie was becoming suspicious of what exactly went on here. This time he stopped to look at Jedikiah.

"He's a former colleague of mine who I've been searching for since he left the company," Jedikiah said with ease. "We had just received a lead that he was in this hotel."

"And why did he leave your company?" Jessie was now closely scrutinizing Jedikiah's response.

"Well ...," Jedikiah started but was cut off.

"Jessie, he's crashing," Hesam interrupted the interrogation.

Jessie and Jedikiah both rushed over to John.

**xxx TTP xxx**

Stephen was not having a good time on this camping trip. Seeing as he was only on it to protect his family from his Mom's potentially psychopathic TP boyfriend, it was doomed from the start. Then with finding out what had happened with Astrid and John, he really needed to get back to civilization.

Taking a little walk to have a "man-to-man" conversation with this interloper was the last thing he needed, but he reluctantly agreed to it. Using the information that Cara had provided, Stephen tried to discreetly interrogate the guy who was encroaching on his Dad's turf.

It wasn't going well which just added to Stephen's frustrations. Reaching the edge of the cliff, and losing patience with the man, Stephen decided to force him into a situation where he would have to use his powers.

"I know you have powers," Stephen said as he moved into the man's personal space forcing him closer and closer to the edge until he finally fell over.

"So use them to save yourself." Stephen said as he watched his Mom's boyfriend tumble over the cliff and plunging into the rushing waters. He kept expecting to see something that would prove the man had powers. The longer it took, Stephen began to doubt it.

When the man went under the water and didn't resurface for more than a minute, Stephen teleported to the closest point along the shore then ran into the water and pulled him out. He wasn't breathing, so Stephen started CPR. That got him breathing again, but he didn't wake up and there was blood flowing from a gash on the back of his head. He ran back to the campsite to get help. It was a good thing his Mom was a nurse. She would know what to do. Unfortunately, she was also probably going to kill him for this little stunt.


	3. Chapter 3 - Plan of Action

Author's Notes: I know very little about medical issues, except for any personal experience or what I've seen on TV. I don't plan to get very specific, so hopefully it won't matter.

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Jessie and Hesam worked quickly to get John stabilized. Jedikiah provided assistance when asked and every now and then when he wasn't. He was not going to lose John due to incompetence.

Once John was out of immediate danger, they moved him to the ambulance.

Jedikiah insisted on going with them to the hospital. All he said was "I'm coming with you." The tone he used along with the look on his face let them know there would be no further discussion on the subject.

The ride to the hospital was fairly uneventful. John was then wheeled directly into the ER when they arrived and the doctors immediately began working on him.

While the doctors in the ER assessed John's condition, Jedikiah met up with Hillary and the other two agents.

"Okay, this is a very tricky situation," Jedikiah briefed the agents. "You don't interfere with any hospital employees. Just be alert for any suspicious activity. For doctors and nurses, check their hospital badge then let them through. If anybody other than a doctor or nurse approaches John's room, you check their ID and find out their intent ... any way you can."

As he finished up, one of the ER doctors approached the group.

"Dr. Price?" the doctor inquired. "You came in with John Young, correct? I was ordered to update you on his condition. I'm Dr. Samuels."

"Yes," Jedikiah responded as he turned around to face the man. "How is he?"

"He is stable for now but we found some internal bleeding that will require surgery," the doctor stated. "Once that is under control, we will move him to a private room, just as you requested."

**xxx TTP xxx**

Upon learning that Jedikiah had called for an ambulance, Cara and Russell started working on a plan to rescue John. They knew it would not be as simple as just showing up at the hospital, going to John's room then getting him out. Jedikiah would have at least a couple of agents standing guard in addition to Ultra monitoring the area.

Even so, they felt hopeful. They stood a much better chance of getting John out of a hospital then getting him out of Ultra.

"I can't believe they are taking him to a hospital," Russell said, unconvinced. "What about Ultra's doctors? And they know gun shot wounds have to be reported, right?"

"Please, this is Jedikiah we're talking about," Cara replied. "I'm sure he will spin some tale about what happened."

"If they are taking John to the same hospital Stephen's mom works at, maybe we could use her," Astrid suggested.

"Yes, she could be of some help," Cara agreed sounding hopeful. Then groaned, "if she weren't on a camping trip with her family."

~ "Stephen, is there any way you can cut your trip short?" ~ Cara sent.

~ "As a matter of fact, we're on our way back now. There was an accident and we're en route to the hospital." ~ Stephen replied.

Cara sensed some guilt from him and that there was more to the story but let it go for now.

~ "Report into Ultra as soon as you can and see what you can find out about John." ~ Cara responded.

**xxx TTP xxx**

After surgery, John had finally been moved into a private room. Agents Miller and Simmons were to guard his room, while Hillary was to act as a wildcard. Her orders were to "patrol" the hospital for suspicious activity. Jedikiah had gone back to Ultra to take care of some business ... some related to the situation with John and some normal, everyday tasks. He left word with the doctors to notify him immediately of any changes to John's condition.

As Hillary made her rounds, she spotted Stephen in the ER waiting room and ran over to him.

"What are you doing here?" she ordered. "You are supposed to be on vacation."

"Well, it got cut short. We just got here." He pointed over to where his Mom and brother sat waiting for news. "My Mom's boyfriend had an accident. The doctors are tending to him now."

"Oh, well, what happened?" Hillary's tone softened a bit.

"He fell and hit his head." Stephen, not wanting to go into how he fell, changed the subject. "What are you doing here?"

Before Hillary responded, she looked around to make sure no one would overhear them. "I told you we captured John Young. Well, he was shot, and with Ultra's medical unit out of commission, we had no choice but to bring him here."

"Oh, right," Stephen said. "So do you need any help?"

"No, we have it covered," Hillary replied. "Miller and Simmons are guarding his room and I'm on patrol."

"Yep, sounds like you have it covered," Stephen responded. "I better get back to my family ... make sure everything's okay. Let me know if you need anything."

"If any of John's group shows up," Hillary said. "Give me a sign and we'll take care of them."

"Will do," Stephen said quickly and gave her the thumbs up as he went back to sit with his Mom and Luca.

~ "Cara, Hillary and two other agents are guarding John." ~ Stephen sent as soon as he sat down.

**xxx TTP xxx**

"Okay, good," Cara said aloud.

Russell and Astrid looked at her strangely.

"What?" Cara said. "I just found out from Stephen that there are just three people guarding John."

"Oh, so what's the plan then, boss lady?" Russell tried to look ready for action, but it was a bit difficult since he was still not at 100 percent. It was more like 60 percent.

"Since Stephen is already at the hospital, he can help run interference." Cara started out. "Then we just need to come up with a distraction for the other two guards. Then I'll slip into John's room ..."

Russell gave her a look and was just about to say something when Cara cut him off with "... get your head out of the gutter, Russell. This is serious."

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Russell responded defensively.

"What can I do?" Astrid really wanted to help since John was shot trying to save her.

"As long as Ultra has a hit out on you, there's not much you can do," Cara stated sadly.

Seeing the defeated look on Astrid's face, Cara then said "You can stay here with Russell and work with TIM ... be our eyes and ears."

"Wait, what do you mean 'stay here with Russell'," he chimed in. "I'm going with you."

"No, you aren't," Cara firmly stated. "We need people who are able to fight, if needed. You can barely walk by yourself. You are still recuperating."

Russell's hate for Julian and his gang intensified as he dejectedly went over to the couch to sit down.

~ "Irene and Mike, meet me in TIM's room now." ~ Cara broadcasted.

**xxx TTP xxx**

Jedikiah was just finishing up at Ultra when his phone rang.

"Price," Jedikiah said into the receiver. "Understood. Make him as comfortable as you can. I'll be there shortly."

**xxx TTP xxx**

Mike, Irene and Cara teleported to a location near the hospital then walked the rest of the way. Cara notified Stephen that they were there, then they entered the hospital through the ER and made their way to John's floor. Stephen excused himself from his family and set out to find Hillary.

With Stephen distracting Hillary, all they needed to do is draw the guards away from John's door. Cara told Irene to find her own special way to cause a commotion. She was hoping that would take care of both guards, but just in case, Mike was there to assist.

Irene and Mike had successfully distracted the guards enough for Cara to get into John's room. She ran over to him, carefully pulled him up to a sitting position then put his arm around her shoulder. She put her arm around his waist and was getting ready to teleport when Jedikiah ran into the room and drew his gun on her.

"You don't want to do that," Jedikiah warned her.

"No, I believe I do," Cara insisted.

"No, you don't," Jedikiah repeated. "Do you feel him? How warm he is?"

She had to admit he did seem very warm and now that she looked closer, he was sweating and restless.

"He has an infection that needs proper treatment," Jedikiah said. "How well can you treat infections in that dank hovel you call home. So again, you don't want to do that. If you do, he's dead."

Cara still hesitated. She hated to admit that Jedikiah was right, but he was. She gently laid John back down on the bed and pulled the covers over him. She took his hand and gave a gentle squeeze. This would not be the last time she saw him, she tried to reassure herself.

At that moment there was a loud crash in the hall, startling Jedikiah and Cara. He turned around to see smoke wafting through the hall. When he turned back around, Cara gave a quick parting glance to John then teleported out of the room before Jedikiah could take a shot.


	4. Chapter 4 - Waiting Game

Author's Notes: I know very little about Medical issues, except for any personal experience or what I've seen on TV. I don't plan to get very specific, so hopefully it won't matter.

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Shortly after Cara arrived back at the Lair, Irene and Mike teleported in.

Mike immediately asked "What happened?"

Irene looked around and said "Where's John?"

"It was too dangerous," Cara trailed off then said. "He has an infection and can't be moved yet. He needs to stay in the hospital."

Cara stormed into TIM's room where Russell and Astrid were waiting for her.

"You had him, you were right there in the clear," Russell said. "What happened?"

"Jedikiah showed up," Cara said angrily. She still hated that Jedikiah was right and that he still had John.

Astrid and Russell looked at each other wondering how they missed that. Then started arguing about it.

"Shut up," Cara yelled. "It doesn't matter how it happened, it did. We now need a new plan."

**xxx TTP xxx**

Having heard the commotion, Hillary, with Stephen following closely behind, ran into John's room. When they arrived, Jedikiah was checking John's stitches and making sure the IV was still intact.

Hillary was relieved to see that John was still there. Stephen tried to hide his disappointment, but then noticed that John didn't look too good.

Once Jedikiah was satisfied no more harm had been done, he turned to see the two new guests.

"Sir, are you okay?" Hillary asked.

"Yes, luckily the sewer rats rescue attempt failed." He walked over to her. "And where were you, Hillary? You were supposed to spot trouble before it got here."

"Well ... I ...," she started.

"It's my fault, sir," Stephen interrupted. "I needed help ... with ..." Stephen looked to Hillary for help.

She just blankly stared at him.

"What are you doing here in the first place, Stephen?" Jedikiah questioned him. "You were supposed to be out of town."

"My Mom's boyfriend was hurt in an accident," Stephen replied. "He's being checked out now."

"Well, in that case, go back to your family," Jedikiah ordered. "We will contact you, if needed."

Having been dismissed, Stephen left the room, but lingered just outside the door.

"We need to increase security, but we should have some time," Jedikiah explained to Hillary. "His group now understands the situation. Until this fever breaks, they won't try anything. Once it does, we will get him out of here as soon as possible. There can be no second rescue mission, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Hillary replied.

"Now go find Miller and Simmons," Jedikiah ordered. "Send them back to HQ. I'll deal with them later. You can go too, but tell Agent Jones to report to me here first thing in the morning."

**xxx TTP xxx**

As Stephen went back to his family, he let Cara know that Jedikiah was intending to increase security.

~ "The next attempt will be even harder. You better come up with something good." ~ Stephen warned.

**xxx TTP xxx**

Now that everything had settled down and the nurses performed their last check on John for the evening, Jedikiah made himself as comfortable as possible in the chair in the room. It was going to be a long night. He didn't want various nurses disturbing John while he slept, so he took on the responsibility of monitoring John. Being part of a top-level, secret government agency, and a doctor, afforded him such authority.

As one last precaution, Jedikiah had ordered restraints for John. He didn't want the boy wandering off in the middle of the night.

At the moment, John was resting peacefully under sedation, so Jedikiah pulled out his tablet and tried to get some work done.

About an hour later Jedikiah was just finishing up a report, when he heard something behind him. He turned to see John tossing and turning and mumbling something to himself. Jedikiah stood up and walked over to his patient.

"No, no, no," John said quietly, almost incomprehensibly. "I have to warn him ... let me go." He started pulling on the restraints.

"John, shhh" Jedikiah said as he tried to settle him down, putting his hand on John's shoulder trying to hold him still. He didn't want John pulling any stitches. "Quiet down, son."

Lost in the nightmare, John continued to pull at the restraints. Finally Jedikiah decided to wake him up. "John ... John, wake up." He tapped John's face lightly.

"Wha ... huh?" John groggily reacted and tried to sit up but couldn't. He looked down to see that he was strapped to the bed. When he realized Jedikiah was there, he just groaned and closed his eyes, maybe it was a dream. He opened his eyes once more and Jedikiah was still there, must not be a dream. "What ... happened?"

"You were shot and developed an infection," Jedikiah replied. "You're in the hospital."

John looked around and realized it wasn't Ultra. "How did I get here?"

"We found you and brought you here," Jedikiah said, conveniently leaving out some details.

"Not Ultra?" John said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, well, we would have, except for a slight issue with the medical unit," Jedikiah responded. "So, we had to do the next best thing."

Since John was now awake, Jedikiah proceeded to check his vitals. The most important development was that John's temperature was down slightly, so it was not as dangerous as it had been. Jedikiah hoped that meant he would be able to get John out of here soon.

"Now, get some rest," Jedikiah ordered.

John couldn't with the dream lingering in his mind and the fever making him restless. When he kept fidgeting, Jedikiah finally tried to distract him. "John, what were you dreaming about?"

Not really wanting to discuss it, John lied and said "It's nothing."

"Don't lie to me," Jedikiah said. "What was it? It will help to talk about it."

John turned to stare at Jedikiah and said "It's none of your business."

"It is my business as long as you are under my charge," Jedikiah replied.

John just turned his head to stare at the wall. Then, curiosity getting the better of him, he asked "Why the restraints?"

"Didn't want you sneaking out of here," Jedikiah said, "... or aggravating your wound."

"How touching," John sneered. "Why even bother?"

Seeing it as the diversionary tactic that it was, Jedikiah inquired again, "what were you dreaming about?"

"Just a distant memory," John replied without looking at him. "Like I said, it's nothing."

"Ah," Jedikiah stated, "it's about Tony, isn't it?"

John hated to admit that Jedikiah was right, so he ignored him.

"Come on, you were protecting a human that knows about your powers, you got sh... "

John quickly turned to him and shouted "Just shut up." Then he winced. The sudden action had pulled at his stitches.

Jedikiah ran over to check the wound. Some blood had seeped out, but the stitches were still intact. He cleaned it up and put a fresh dressing on it.

As he walked over to the tiny bathroom to wash his hands, Jedikiah scolded John "You have to be more careful." When he came back into the room drying his hands, he noticed John was still grimacing. "Do you want something for the pain?"

John just nodded, so Jedikiah stepped out of the room and called over a nurse. After making the request, he came back into the room, ran cold water over a clean washcloth, then placed it on John's forehead. "The nurse should be in shortly with the painkiller."

Almost as soon as he finished saying it, the nurse walked into the room and administered the drug to John.

"There, that should help," she said then smiled at John. "It will make you drowsy, so just rest. Okay?"

Grateful for the kindness, John nodded slightly and closed his eyes.

With that, she turned and exited the room, barely acknowledging Jedikiah.

Jedikiah stood beside John's bed for a few more moments until he was sure the kid was asleep then returned to his makeshift office in the chair. But instead of returning to work, he sat and watched John sleep.


	5. Chapter 5 - Inside Information

**Author's Notes: **Sorry for the delay in updating. This story has been quite a challenge (even more so than "Challenge") to get through. Hopefully, and especially if I get one of my other in-progress stories finished, I'll be able to focus more on this one. You have no idea how happy I am to be back working on it.

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Cara, Russell, Mike, Irene and Astrid all sat around TIM's room staring at each other waiting for someone else to come up with a plan. They were all worried about John ... some more than others ... and they all wanted him back home.

"We know they will have to take John back to Ultra at some point," Cara said, breaking the silence.

"Right," Russell agreed.

"With Stephen's mom working at the hospital, we should at least be able to find out how John is doing," Irene offered.

"True," Russell again chimed in.

"We need Stephen," Cara stated. "He can help us plan our next step. If nothing else, to get information from his Mom."

~ "Stephen, how soon can you get here?" ~ Cara sent.

After a few moments and just when Cara started to think he didn't hear her, Stephen replied ~ "I'll be there within the hour" ~

**xxx TTP xxx**

When Jedikiah started to get drowsy, he got up, checked on John ... making sure he was asleep and still restrained ... then left the room to get a cup of coffee. It would just be a few more hours until Agent Jones showed up as backup.

Since there was no coffee available on John's floor, Jedikiah found some on the next one. As he approached the vending machine, he recognized the figure standing there waiting for a cup of the steaming hot beverage.

"Marla?" Jedikiah said. "What are you doing here?"

She stopped suddenly, startled, and turned around to see her brother-in-law approaching.

"Well, for one thing, I work here, Jedikiah," Marla replied. "So that would be one reason I'm here but I'm actually here with a friend, who was just admitted."

"Oh," Jedikiah replied. "Nothing serious, I hope."

"No just a concussion," Marla said as she took a sip of her coffee. "They are just keeping him for observation. It's just precautionary. And what brings you to our fine establishment?"

"Just stopping by to check on a patient," Jedikiah responded as he retrieved his coffee from the machine.

"You have a patient here?" Marla questioned. "I thought, since your field is genetics, you were stuck mainly in a lab studying samples, not dealing with actual patients."

"Well, there was a ... slight mishap, which ended up with one my test subjects needing more medical attention than what was available at Ultra at the moment," Jedikiah said slyly. He sipped his beverage, then grimaced at the taste. "You drink this ... this ... are you sure this is coffee?"

Marla laughed, then said "Not used to vending machine coffee, huh? Having to actually work here helps you develop a taste for it." She then took a big gulp of hers to emphasize the point.

"No, I guess not. Well, regardless, it should do the trick and I need to get back. It was good seeing you again, Marla." Jedikiah said then headed back to John's room.

"Say, Jed," Marla called to him. "Would you like me to check on your patient for you?"

Jedikiah stopped and turned around to say "that won't be necessary, he should be released shortly, but I appreciate the offer." With that he gave a slight wave of his hand and continued walking down the hall, past the nurses station and down to the elevator. She was still watching him as he got on the elevator, so he smiled and nodded right before the elevator doors closed.

As Marla walked by the nurses station, she overheard the nurses discussing the "handsome man that just passed by" and slowed down to eavesdrop. The younger nurse commented how she preferred his patient. They were also wondering why the well-dressed man was spending so much time at the hospital. That stopped Marla in her tracks. She had assumed he was just taking a moment to stop in and check on the patient, not spending a great amount of time there.

Curiosity getting the better of her and since the older nurse was a friend of hers, she wandered over to them to join the conversation.

"Hi, Grace," Marla said. "How have you been?"

"Marla, long time, no see," Grace responded. "What are you doing in this area? Finally ready to give up being a surgical nurse?"

"No, not yet," she replied. "Apparently your floor has the only working coffee vending machine." She raised her cup to prove her point.

Grace stepped closer to Marla, leaning over the counter to ask "So, how do you know 'Mr. Charming'?"

"Who?" Marla asked then pointed toward the elevator. "Oh, you mean Jed? He's my brother-in-law."

**xxx TTP xxx**

A few moments later, Jedikiah entered John's room still trying to get used to the beverage that was supposed to be coffee. He paused briefly to check John's fever, then shook his head as it was still elevated. It wasn't as high as it was originally, but still not coming down fast enough for him to be moved back to Ultra.

He set the coffee down then grabbed the washcloth from John's forehead. After running it through the cold water again and squeezing out the excess, he replaced it above John's eyes.

"What are you doing to me, kid?" Jedikiah whispered to the sleeping form. "I need this fever to break, so I can get you out of here before your gang of sewer rats attempt another ridiculous rescue."

**xxx TTP xxx**

Marla's conversation with the other nurses yielded some very surprising information. Apparently, Jedikiah had been at the hospital for almost two days. The nurses hadn't seen him leave.

She also found out that the patient has been kept under very tight security with apparently no visitors except for Jedikiah and a few others who seemed more like secret service agents than friends.

Her friends didn't seem to know much about the patient, except that he was in critical condition when an infection developed after surgery.

With all this new information, she decided to check out what exactly was going on with Jedikiah's patient. Why would a patient from a genetics lab need such tight security?

Arriving on the next floor, she chatted with the nurse on duty and was able to find out which room Jedikiah was occupying. The nurse had also shared how offended she was by Jedikiah's harsh dismissal of having any nurses check on the patient through the night.

"I don't know who he thinks he is," she said. "But no one has the right to talk to us that way."

Marla agreed, but knew that was how Jedikiah treated some people.

Thanking the nurse for the information, Marla turned and casually walked down the hallway. When she got to the door, she peeked in the window. First thing she noticed was Jedikiah sitting in the chair in the far corner of the room. He seemed to be very focused on the computer in front of him. There were also neatly stacked files and papers around him. It looked like he had been working there awhile.

Turning her attention to the patient lying in the bed, initially it was hard to tell who it was because he was facing away from the door. Marla waited just a moment longer when she saw him stir and turn his head to finally face her. She was shocked to actually recognize him. Is that ... Stephen's friend from work ... John?


	6. Chapter 6 - Confrontations

**Author's Note: **~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Stephen was just going down the subway station stairs when his cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket to see who was calling. It was his Mom.

"Hi, Mom," he said as he turned around and headed back to the street. "What's going on?"

"Stephen, where are you? It's 4 in the morning. I expected you to be home when I got here."

"Astrid's Dad called me wondering where she was," Stephen answered. "I was out looking for her. Since we were away this weekend and I hadn't seen her in awhile, I needed to find her, make sure she was safe."

"Oh, well, please come home. We need to talk," her voice held an urgency to it he wasn't used to hearing. "Now."

"I'll be right there," Stephen replied then sent. ~ "Cara, was on my way but my Mom needs me. I'll be there as soon as I can. Sorry."

**xxx TTP xxx**

"Mom," Stephen shouted as he came through the front door. He looked around and found her sitting at the kitchen counter. "So, where's the fire?"

"How well do you know John?" She said without looking at him, concentrating instead on the cup of coffee she held in front of her on the counter. "He's in the hospital with a gunshot wound."

"He's a good guy, Mom," Stephen said, quick to defend his rival.

"Then why was he being guarded?" Marla said, finally looking up at her son. "Your uncle told me there was a 'slight mishap' ... I would not call a GSW a slight mishap. What kind of place is Ultra?"

"You talked to Jedikiah?" For some reason, that surprised him.

"Ran into him at the hospital," Marla replied. "He told me very little. Glossed over the whole thing really, but I found out more from the nurses. Didn't know it was John until I stopped by the room."

"What did they say?" Stephen was anxious to get more information.

"That there have been 'secret service' type agents standing guard outside his door," she said. "Only doctors and nurses are allowed in to see him."

"When I contacted work, they said he got shot trying to protect a friend. They haven't caught the shooter, so the guards were probably there to protect him." He was pretty proud of himself for spinning that tale. Maybe he was learning something from his Uncle after all.

"Hmmm ... it just all seems very suspicious," his Mom was still skeptical, "especially with all the time Jed was spending there. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Stephen replied. "Uncle Jed is a hard guy to figure out."

"True," Marla said. "I'm not so sure you should continue working there."

"I'll be fine, Mom," Stephen responded. "This was just a ... freak accident."

He gave her a quick hug then said, "I have to go. There are a couple of places I want to look for Astrid before school. See you later and stop worrying."

"I'm a Mom, that's part of the job description," she replied. "Good luck. I hope you find her soon."

**xxx TTP xxx**

The sun was just beginning to rise when an unexpected visitor stopped by the hospital.

"Hello, Jedikiah," the Founder stated as he strode into the room with his usual air of superiority. "How is our patient doing today?"

Jedikiah had dozed off in the chair, but immediately woke up when the Founder spoke.

"Fine ... fine," Jedikiah said after clearing his throat. He stood up and adjusted his suit. "To what do we owe this unexpected visit from the head of the company?"

"Just stopping by to check his progress," the Founder replied. "We need to get him back to Ultra as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Jedikiah still suspected there was more to this visit than just a casual progress check. "There really was no need for you to come here personally."

"True, true. It just seemed to be an opportune time to try and get some information out of him ... in this weakened state."

"He's not talking much at the moment," Jedikiah said cautiously. He had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

"Now, Jedikiah," the Founder replied condescendingly as he walked over to the bed, "you know I don't need to have him talk."

The Founder placed his hands at John's temples and closed his eyes. As the Founder started the invasion, John began to twist and turn from the mental assault. The longer he tried to get the information the more violent John reacted to it.

"Sir," Jedikiah shouted. "If you keep this up, you will kill him and then we won't get anything."

The Founder didn't let up and continued the attack on John's mind. When Jedikiah saw that John was bleeding again, he forcefully pulled the Founder away from John.

Having the connection violently cut off caused the Founder to stumble back a bit. He shook his head to regain his bearings.

"How dare you ..." the Founder began until he saw Jedikiah feverishly working to stop the blood that was flowing once again from John's wound. There were also slight trails of blood from his wrists and ankles where the restraints had ripped away some skin from the struggle.

Jedikiah took the briefest moment to punch the button to call for a nurse.

"How ...'" the responding nurse said before he interrupted her.

"We've got an emergency here. The patient is bleeding out," Jedikiah explained then, when the heart rate monitor started buzzing, he turned to see that John was flat lining, "... and now coding."

"On our way," the nurse responded.

Moments later a team of medical personnel ran into the room and started working on John. As the hospital staff took over, Jedikiah backed away breathing heavily from the effort. He stood and watched closely, his hands on his hips. He had blood on his hands, shirt and now his pants, but at the moment he didn't care. His main concern was that the patient ... John ... survived.

First and foremost, they needed to get his heart beating again. It took a couple of shocks to get it back in rhythm. Then they were able to focus on the bleeding, which started anew now that he had a pulse. Once the team got John stabilized enough to move, they took him directly to surgery, leaving Jedikiah and the Founder alone in the room.

"What in the Hell was that!" Jedikiah turned on the Founder. "Did you get anything useful from him?"

"No, but I was getting close right before you interrupted me," the Founder smugly stated.

"Yeah, you were getting close to killing him." Jedikiah was outraged at the recklessness his partner showed.

"But I didn't," the Founder simply responded. "Besides you were here to make sure that didn't happen. I knew it was a risk, but one I was willing to take. How about you, Jedikiah?"

The Founder narrowed his eyes to try and read him.

Having momentarily lost control, Jedikiah took a deep breath. He quickly recovered to get his thoughts together and his defenses up then turned to face the Founder with his mask firmly in place. "Of course, whatever you think is best."

Not able to read anything from the human, the Founder decided that was enough for today.

"Good," he replied. "Now that that's settled. Please report back to Ultra as soon as you can."

After the Founder left, Jedikiah took another moment to sit and catch his breath. It had been a long couple of days and the strain was starting to take it's toll on him. Once he regained his composure, he headed to the surgical unit to check on John.


	7. Chapter 7 - Moving On

**Author's Notes:** Sorry for such a short chapter, but the next one should be longer.

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

As Jedikiah approached the surgical waiting area, lights started to go off signaling a Code Blue in the operating room. It didn't concern him. It was a big hospital and there are multiple surgeries happening all at the same time. It could be for any of them.

He sat down in the chair closest to the door then realized he hadn't washed the blood off his hands. Sighing, he got up and left the waiting area. As he headed for the closest bathroom, a nurse came running up to him.

"Sir," she said. "Dr. Price!"

The urgency in her voice sent a chill down his spine. He stopped, then turned to look at her.

"Yes," Jedikiah calmly, almost too calmly, responded.

"I was told to make sure you knew what was happening," she started off. "And to do whatever you said. Your patient is crashing and they can't get his heart beating again."

"Take me to him," he commanded.

"This way, sir."

**xxx TTP xxx**

The group - Cara, Russell, Mike, Irene and Astrid - had just reconvened in TIM's room once Stephen finally arrived. They had just started to put their plan together when Cara froze for a moment then started hyperventilating.

"What's wrong?" Stephen asked as he ran over to her.

"Something's ... happening ... to John," Cara responded.

She sat down on the couch and closed her eyes. She tried to reach out to him. It shocked her when she was able to connect and surprised her even further when it seemed like she had free access to his mind, thoughts and feelings. It was what she always wanted. His life seemed to be flashing by and, in that moment, she understood more about John than she ever had before. Some of it horrified her. Some of it made her love him more.

After a few more moments, Cara tried to stop the images from going by so fast. She tried to pick out memories to hold onto. She found a few from the happier times they shared, then picked out some others.

~ "Tell Russell and Charlie I'll miss them and ... Cara ... I love ... you" ~

It was so faint, she wasn't sure if she heard him.

"John ... no," Cara said softly, as tears formed her in eyes. She felt him slipping away.

**xxx TTP xxx**

"Mark it .." the lead surgeon started to say when he was interrupted by Jedikiah crashing through the operating room doors.

"No, not yet, move over," Jedikiah roughly pushed the man out of his way and immediately started to work on John. He was trying everything he knew to get him back.

"Come on, John," Jedikiah shouted. "Fight, kid!"

The surgeons and nurses stood aside, not daring to interfere or even try to stop the man.


	8. Chapter 8 - Loose Ends

**Author****'****s Notes:** _Italicized text_ indicates thoughts

~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy

**xxx TTP xxx**

Jedikiah had fought hard trying to save John. So hard, that he finally just collapsed to the floor. Not giving up, he was just exhausted. His body betraying his will.

"No," was all he could think and say. "Not John."

It hurt to lose Roger, but losing John was on another level. For all intents and purposes, John was his son. He had saved him. Rescued him from a horrible life with an abusive foster father, raised and mentored him. Showed him what he could be and made him perfect ... a Tomorrow Person who could kill.

But, he also betrayed him. Set him up to kill Roger. Something that haunted and tortured the boy for years.

Tears forming in his eyes, he regretted everything he put the kid through.

"John deserved better than this," he said softly to no one. All the other medical personnel had left the room at least a half hour ago.

Just then someone came in.

"Sir," the orderly said. "We need to move the body."

He slowly got up and just stared at John. He fought back the tears, but a few trickled out.

"I'm sorry, John," he said as he rested his hand on top of John's head. A moment later, he bent down and brushed a kiss on John's forehead.

**xxx TTP xxx**

"We're too late," Cara solemnly stated to the group, tears streaming down her face. "He's dead, John's dead."

She was bombarded with responses: "How do you know?" "Are you sure?" "NO!" "How?" "It can't be!"

She didn't know who said what, she was just numb. She couldn't process that John was dead, didn't want to believe that it could be true. But, she had felt him slip away. That last connection had just faded to nothing.

Ignoring everybody else, Cara got up and ran out of the room. She wanted to be alone. She wouldn't allow herself to grieve until she was by herself. She was the leader and had to be strong for everybody else. She was barely holding on.

Stephen followed her out. He wanted to be there for her. He could feel how much pain she was in, their connection giving him free access to her state of mind. He was surprised she wasn't blocking him, but apparently she was too upset to try.

**xxx TTP xxx **

The others in the room were stunned into silence.

Mike was sad about the turn of events, but wasn't that close to John, so he left the others to deal with the news.

Russell didn't want to believe it ... refused to.

"It can't be. He's the strongest of us all," he said.

Irene and Astrid were crying. Astrid feeling a good amount of guilt. It was her fault that John was shot.

Russell went over to try and console Astrid.

**xxx TTP xxx **

"Will you just leave me alone," Cara shouted as she turned to Stephen.

"No," he responded. "I can feel how much this is hurting you. You don't have to be alone."

Stephen stood there with his arms open, encouraging her to grieve knowing she had to make the first move.

Cara relented, breaking down and falling into Stephen's arms. She sobbed into his chest. He gently rubbed her back and let her cry.

**xxx TTP xxx**

Charlotte saw Cara run by and thought she looked upset. Since Stephen was going after Cara, Charlotte retraced her steps and ran into Mike.

"Oh, Mike," Charlotte said. "Do you know what's wrong with Cara?"

"Yeah," Mike replied. "John died."

"Wha … what?! When? How?"

Russell heard Charlotte and ran out of TIM's room. "Way to go, Mike," Russell said as he passed the man and ran over to embrace Charlotte. "It's okay, Charlotte."

Charlotte pushed Russell away and ran to a place John had shown her. A place where they could get away from the others and talk about Ultra. When they first went there, she didn't think it would help to talk about it, but it did. He shared some of the things he went through at Ultra and how he used that to make himself stronger. Realizing he truly understood what she had been through, she opened up about her experiences. He would let her scream and shout or cry or talk, whatever she needed to do to get through it.

"_John, who will help me now?__"_

She had stopped running and was leaning against a wall. When she thought about John being gone, she lost the strength in her legs to stand and slid down the wall. Burying her head in her hands, she let the tears flow.

**xxx TTP xxx**

~ "Cara, we have a situation. 'Mr. Sensitivity' told Charlotte about John and we can't find her." ~ Russell sent shortly after Charlotte disappeared.

Regaining her composure, Cara pushed Stephen away. "I'm okay now … for the time being. I need to find Charlotte."

"I'll help …" Stephen started to say, but Cara cut him off.

"No, I can do this … I need to do this," Cara said as she turned to walk away from him. After walking a few feet, she turned around to him again and said, "Thank you."

"No problem, let me know if there is anything else I can do," Stephen said to her retreating form.

Being a talented telepath, Cara closed her eyes and concentrated on finding the girl. Soon she was hit by the overwhelming grief, which served as a beacon to locate Charlotte.

Cara approached the girl slowly. She didn't want to scare her.

"Charlotte, honey," Cara said softly. "Are you okay?"

She felt stupid for asking that, of course she's not okay. The girl just lost her best friend in the world, her adopted big brother.

Once Charlotte realized Cara was there, she got up and ran to her wrapping her in a bear hug and continued crying.

"What … are we … going to do … now?" Charlotte asked through her sobs.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out," Cara said as she stroked the girls hair and held her. The girl's grief got to her and she began shedding a few tears again. She quickly wiped them away and knelt down to look Charlotte in the eye.

"Honey, I have something to share with you. Just before John died, he reached out to me and I was able to retrieve some of his memories."

Cara took Charlotte's hand and closed her eyes. Charlotte shut her eyes too. Soon, Charlotte could see and feel how John felt about her. She felt his protectiveness and love. He considered her part of his family. The little sister he never had. The warmth she felt from those memories, made her smile a bit through her tears.

"Thank you," Charlotte told Cara.

"One last thing," Cara stated. "He wanted me to let you know … he will miss you."

This time Cara was the one to quickly wrap the girl in a big hug. She did it fast because she started to cry again.

"_John, I will do all I can to protect and help Charlotte,__" _Cara vowed.

**xxx TTP xxx **

Shortly after arriving home, Stephen's cell phone rang. It was kind of late and he debated answering it, but curiosity got the best of him. Pulling the device out, he saw that it was his Uncle.

"Yes, sir," Stephen tried to sound professional.

"Stephen, I need you to to contact the Tomorrow People," Jedikiah said. The tone his uncle used surprised Stephen. The man had always been very aloof, formal, but this time there was something else he couldn't quite place. Jedikiah seemed more … detached.

"John's dead. I want you to tell them to go claim the body. Ultra has no use for him anymore … tell them to do it quickly and, one last thing, don't let them know this came from me."

And with that Jedikiah abruptly ended the call. Startled, Stephen pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a moment before following his orders.

**xxx TTP xxx**

After their little talk, Cara stayed with Charlotte until the girl fell asleep. She then carried Charlotte to her bed and tucked her in. Cara didn't want the girl to be alone, so she asked Irene to stay with Charlotte. She quickly agreed to it.

She had just left the two, when Stephen contacted her letting her know about the call he received. When she tried to get more answers as to who made the call, Stephen responded:

~ "All I know is the person on the phone said if you want to claim his body, you need to get to the hospital soon." ~

~ "I'll take Russell. Thank you, Stephen." ~ Cara responded.

**xxx TTP xxx**

Russell stayed at the desk to give Cara a moment alone with John.

Arriving at the hospital's morgue, Cara slowly approached the entrance. She didn't want to go through those doors. Entering that room meant making it real, that John was dead. She stood there staring at the doors until she noticed someone else was already there ... Jedikiah.

"What are you doing here?" Cara shouted as she rushed into the room. "Get away from him!"

Pulling Jedikiah away from the table, revealed a lifeless John. The sight stopped Cara in her tracks and she broke down again, momentarily forgetting that Jedikiah was standing beside her.

"Oh ... John," Cara stepped forward and grabbed John's hand. It was so cold. She then gently placed her hands on both sides of his face. Again she thought he was so cold. She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to memorize the look and feel of it.

"I did everything I could," Jedikiah blandly told her. "He was too far gone. The damage was too severe."

Cara slowly regained her composure and turned to face the man again. "Why are you here?"

"After everything I've done to him …" Jedikiah paused. He seemed to be searching for what to say, which surprised Cara because the man has always been so decisive. "I wanted him to be where he belonged … with the Tomorrow People."

With that, he gathered his coat from a nearby chair and left. She could hardly believe what just happened. It was only then that she realized the change in him. He was extremely detached to what was going on. It was as if something had broken him.

**The End**

**Author****'****s Notes:** Sorry for the depressing end. I had no idea I was going to kill John when I started this story. Unfortunately, I got the worst case of writer's block and it didn't get resolved until I had the idea to follow through on this. See, aren't you glad Cara was able to rescue him? Thank you for reading this, if you made it this far. I'll try to make it up to you. Just today got an idea for what should be a light-hearted and/or fun story that I hope to post by Christmas.


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